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Many celebrity brands are born from a business plan with the goal of growing and generating revenue, but sometimes there are exceptions. One of those stories is Casamigos, the tequila created by George Clooney.
The brand was born from friendship and never meant to be public. While spending a lot of time in Mexico, Clooney and his friends started a private collection of tequila, which turned out to be a $1 billion business.
A tequila brand built from friendship
Clooney and his longtime friend Rande Gerber were building side-by-side vacation homes in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and spent a lot of time drinking tequila. “After a couple of months trying a lot of different tequilas, George turned to me and said, ‘Why don’t we just make our own? One that’s perfect for us to drink?’” Gerber told CNBC.
And that was the promise that started Casamigos. Together with their friend Mike Meldman, the three of them found a distiller in Jalisco and asked for a smooth tequila they could drink straight or on the rocks.
After months of tastings, they found the right flavor and named it Casamigos, which loosely means “house of friends.” For two years, the tequila was shared only with friends and family.
The call that turned Casamigos into a business
“We didn’t really want to be in the business. George is an actor and a director. I own restaurants and bars and wasn’t looking to get in another business,” Gerber added.
But a phone call changed everything for the three friends. “The distiller called and said, ‘Hey guys, we have a little problem. In the past two years, we’ve been sending you about a thousand bottles a year. Either you’re selling it or you’re drinking way too much, we can’t keep calling it samples. You guys have to get licensed and do this right,’” Gerber told in the same interview.
They launched Casamigos to the public in 2013, and it “immediately took off,” according to Gerber. The key, he said, was the product: “We have an inexpensive bottle, but the best quality tequila inside.”
How did Casamigos end up selling for $1 billion
In June 2017, the British beverage giant Diageo agreed to buy Casamigos for $700 million, plus up to $300 million more depending on the brand’s performance. With that deal, the three friends stopped being its owners.
Almost a decade after the sale, the brand is going through a difficult moment. According to Diageo’s annual report and Vinetur reporting, Casamigos net sales in the U.S. fell in the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2026.
The company said both Casamigos and Don Julio, its other big tequila brand, lost market share amid a slowdown in the tequila category, tougher competition, and more cautious consumers.